Toxic Beliefs That Keep Christian Women From Their True Identity (A Story about a Runner) [349]

Flying Free

Natalie Hoffman

Emotional, Narcissism, Christianity, Abuse, Religion & Spirituality, Spiritual, Christian, Self-improvement, Education, Divorce, Marriage

5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever felt like life has you wearing a 200-pound emotional backpack labeled “Christian womanhood”? In this episode, I unpack (literally) the toxic beliefs that are holding us back using a metaphorical story about a woman who wants to run, but can’t. Because, surprise! She's lugging around spiritual abuse disguised as Bible truths.

You’ll meet Sarah, a fictional but oh-so-familiar woman who stands at the edge of a running trail, paralyzed by invisible weights. Enter Elena, the wise older woman who helps her go full Marie Kondo on her belief system. You’ll want to tattoo some of Elena’s one-liners on your forearm. (Okay maybe just put them on sticky notes.)

Key Takeaways:

Toxic beliefs often come wrapped in spiritual language. Just because it came from a pulpit or your well-meaning Aunt Kathy doesn’t make it true or helpful.
You’re allowed to question what you’ve been taught. Especially if what you’ve been taught keeps you silent, stuck, or scared.
Jesus didn’t ask you to carry a crushing load. He said His yoke is easy. Your religious trauma backpack is not that.
Replacing lies with truth doesn’t mean you’re sinning. It means you’re healing.

Read the full show notes and/or ask Natalie a question here

Related Resources:

Here are some other related Flying Free Podcast episodes: “12 Life-Changing Beliefs That Will Unhook You From Abuse” and “The Beliefs that Keep Christian Women Stuck in Abusive Marriages.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Natalie Hoffman of Flying FreeNow.com, and you're listening to the Flying Free Podcast, a support resource for women of faith looking for hope and healing from hidden emotional and spiritual abuse.
0:18.0	Welcome to episode 349 of the Flying Free Podcast. Do you like to run? I am not a runner. I do not like to run. I have been doing a lot of walking lately. I walk. I have this little track thing underneath my desk, so I walk a lot every day when I'm working at my desk. but I also walk outside when the weather is nice with my youngest son.
0:40.8	And we enjoy that a lot. We have a little path that we like to go on.
0:44.0	There's this little part of the path that goes through a woods, and we have been challenging ourselves lately to try to see how far we can run.
0:52.9	We don't get very far.
0:57.6	I just, ugh, it just makes me feel so gross running. But I want to tell you a story today about a runner. Her name is Sarah.
1:06.0	Are you ready? Here we go. Sarah stood at the edge of the park's running trail. Her heart was pounding, not because
1:14.0	she had been exerting herself, but because of something deeper. She had been wanting to start
1:20.0	running for months, but every time she laced up her sneakers, something held her back. Today felt
1:26.2	different, although she couldn't name why.
1:29.5	"'Excuse me,' came a gentle voice behind her. Sarah turned to see an older woman with
1:35.1	kind eyes and a warm smile. "'I'm Elena. I couldn't help but notice you've been standing here
1:41.6	for a while. Are you okay? Sarah's cheeks flushed.
1:46.4	Oh, I, I want to run, and I just can't seem to get started. Elena's gaze moved to Sarah's shoulders,
1:54.7	and her expression grew thoughtful. That's quite a backpack you're carrying. Do you mind if I ask what's in it?
2:02.3	Sarah looked down, surprised.
2:04.5	She'd grown so accustomed to the weight that she'd almost forgotten she was wearing it.
2:08.8	The straps had left permanent indentations in her shoulders,
2:12.1	and the pack bulged with years of accumulated...
2:15.7	What exactly?
2:20.3	I'm not really sure, Sarah admitted. I guess I've just always carried it.
2:23.3	Would you mind if we sat down and took a look together?
	...

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